By that time, Gates had handed over much of the control of the company and moved on to other activities so it was a bit out of his control.

The employees didn’t complain about pay, saying the company was competitive in that area. Netflix has been described as a high-pressure workplace with a “culture of fear”. Google and Facebook are known for emphasizing work-life balance.

To achieve this goal, Amazon said that it would introduce a new internal reporting system called EmpathyTrack, which will enable employees to secretly report on their colleagues’ lack of humanity. Still, I knew for certain that the toy would turn up – reliably, efficiently and curiously excitingly – at some point today.

Ciubotariu said he had “heard all the horror stories from the past” but defended the company culture. At times, anonymous feedback from co-workers ended up in the employee’s performance review.

But one quote in the Times story kind of says it all.

“One of the most fascinating beliefs at Amazon is that being somewhat socially cohesive and making people feel good does not always produce the best results”, said Kantor.

Some of this is about innate intelligence, but in my experience a bigger factor is that the best programmers spend a huge amount of time absorbing technical information.

But while competition incentivizes productivity without sacrificing innovation, it encourages bad behavior, lower job satisfaction, and workers are more likely to quit.

I want the company I’m dealing with to treat the human beings who work there with respect, not force them into a climate of fear. Instead of free food and lavish benefits, Amazon offers something more like a perpetual boot camp.

Of course, there are diminishing returns to longer work hours. Bezos is more pointed.

Here’s the full memo, and a very Happy Monday to everyone at Amazon! “When you’re shooting for the moon, the nature of the work is really challenging”, said a top Amazon recruiter, Susan Harker. But this doesn’t necessarily work. This creates according to the Times “rivers of intrigues and scheming”: people being sunk or elevated by groups of others.

That’s right. The guy who got into a catering temper tantrum and assaulted someone – but who also happens to have one of the most popular shows of all time – is raking in a stellar paycheck. “We go out after work… we’re vocal about our employee happiness”. Small teams require fewer meetings and less email discussions. “If you can’t excel and put everything into it, this might not be the place for you”.

He was critical of the Times for suggesting that Amazon was running a “cruel, Darwinian, Dickensian” company, arguing that a company like that couldn’t survive in the modern economy. Employees can make a lot of money, gain valuable skills, and be part of changing the world. Some staffers get angry text messages in the middle of the night asking why they’re not answering company emails.

Apart from rejecting the NYT’s portrayal of Amazon’s working conditions, Bezos said he didn’t believe a company that treated its employees in such a poor way in the tech industry could be successful.